Self-service applications, such as those supported by a self-service checkout terminal (SCO), commonly rely on the use of an instance of the POS application to supply the business logic such as item pricing, tax calculation, benefit programs and tenders. The POS application may either be local to the SCO terminal or a remote instance on a server. The implementation of the POS connection is often times complex and expensive.
Commonly, the SCO application exists as a separate application that presents the SCO user interface, device control, and the like. This SCO application is typically interfaced utilizing a POS wrapper through software such that the SCO application activities are communicated directly to the POS, for example, start a transaction, sell an item, tender a note, or the like.
Unfortunately, such an integration traditionally binds the POS and SCO applications such that upgrading either of them may be disruptive to the solution or require an expensive upgrade to the other.
It follows then that when new applications are introduced in the retail enterprise that the integration complexity must be repeated to produce a binding between the POS wrapper and the new application, propagating the fragile integration model yet further.
It is not uncommon to see standard interfaces to the POS such as National Retail Federation ARTS Retail Transaction Interface (RTI), or NCR TB Automation Interface (AI), and more; but these do not address decoupling the POS from the retail applications. Even direct POS interfaces, such as the RTI standard or an equivalent, do not fully address the issue because such POS interfaces are defined and implemented from the perspective of the POS application which may not be able to provide all the services required by the retail application, or the particular implementation of such an interface may still vary from POS application to retail application limiting widespread adoption or requiring widespread adoption as a standard to be practical. Such approaches also are predicated on the availability of such a specialized interface being defined and implemented for the POS application which may take a very long time to realize.